Update: First TV Interview With Tea Party Protester Who Faced Hostile CNN Reporter

Death threats target opponents of 'gay' promotion:'Actions of Day of Silence supporters are speaking louder than the silence'

This message was handed to officials at a California pro-family organization, along with the accompanying picture

At least one pro-family organization that has opposed the pro-homosexual "Day of Silence" is being targeted with hate e-mails and telephone calls, including suggestions that officials go and kill themselves."You may not be gay, but you may be next," said one e-mail, which included a photograph of a casket, according to Karen England, executive director of the Sacramento-based Capitol Resource Institute. England said the hate has flooded in since her organization joined the "Day of Silence Walkout." She also confirmed to WND that she has filed a police report on the threats.WND reported earlier this week on a multitude of organizations across the nation that oppose the DOS promotion in public schools sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network.Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute noted the goal cited by GLSEN is to reduce bullying on school campuses, especially bullying perceived as targeting homosexual students or those with other "alternative' sexual lifestyles."No one supports bullying," she told WND. "Every school has more than ample anti-bullying policies in place...For GLSEN, the means by which they want to end bullying is to normalize volitional homosexual conduct."England told WND that another message was, "I wish you would just go kill yourself.""If this is the kind of atmosphere we get just for asking kids to stay home, in an e-mail, can you imagine what is like for kids refusing to stay silent?" she said.She also said teachers should focus on academic subjects, not changing minds about sexual issues."The actions of Day of Silence supporters are speaking louder than the silence," England said.She said she is urging the walkout "because students should be free to support traditional marriage and relationships, without their peers seeing them as bigots."The official day for the event is today, but opponents note some schools observe it on other days.England said the Day of Silence "falsely equates being anti-harassment with being in favor of social activism in the schools.CRI strongly opposes all harassment. Teachers and students, however, should always be able to speak at school. The classroom is not an appropriate setting for social activism and protest."England's organization has posted a video on YouTube, which also has been embedded here
(WARNING: The video is not recommended viewing for children):

"Many people who support traditional values are called right wing extremists, and Homeland Security says it is concerned about us. Maybe Homeland Security should be more concerned about assessing the threats we are receiving than about us as a threat to others," England said.GSLEN has sponsored the nationwide silent protest every April for the last 12 years. The event is said to be a showing of support for "gay," lesbian, bisexual and transgender victims of violence and bullying. According to GSLEN's 2005 National School Climate Survey, four out of five LGBT children experience harassment in school. The organization claims 64 percent of "gay" students feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 41 percent because of their "gender expression."GLSEN claims there are about 4,000 homosexual clubs now in American high schools and middle schools.Ministries supporting the walkout include: Abiding Truth Ministries; AFA Michigan; AFA Pennsylvania; AFA National; Americans for Truth; Association of Maryland Families; Called2Action; Campaign for Children and Families; Citizens for Community Values of Ohio; Coalition of Conscience; Community Issues Council; Concerned Women for America National; Concerned Women for America Washington; Culture Campaign; Faith2Action; Faith, Family & Freedom Alliance; Illinois Family Institute; Indiana Voice; Liberty Alliance Action; Liberty Counsel; Maine Family Policy Council; MassResistance; Mission America; Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays.

by Bob Unruh

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=95289

As in the days of Noah...

Pastor beaten, Tasered for defending his rights:But Supreme Court grants agents exception to obeying Constitution

An Arizona pastor-Tasered, bloodied by broken glass and sporting 11 stitches in his head-claims his injuries came from being stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint 75 miles inside the U.S. and then being battered by police for refusing to allow agents to search his vehicle.The incident earlier this week highlights tension between constitutional rights, the issue of border security and a controversial Supreme Court ruling that grants an exceptional level of police authority near the Mexican border.Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe claims he did nothing to deserve his eventual arrest and believes that when he refused to allow the search of his car he was simply standing up for his Fourth Amendment rights, which protect him against unreasonable search without a warrant.Anderson further questions why the Border Patrol is allowed to stop and search cars at a checkpoint along Interstate 8, 75 miles inland of where the highway nears the Mexican border at Yuma, Ariz."I was in the United States! I had crossed no international border!" writes Anderson in commentary accompanying a video he made about his experience. "I didn't have any drugs; I didn't have a human beings in my car," he claims in the video itself."Why is this happening in the United States of America?"Pastor Anderson's video explaining his side of the controversy and his rough treatment at the hands of police officers can be seen here:

The U.S. Border Patrol, however, explained to WND that Anderson misunderstood his constitutional rights and that because a drug-sniffing dog alerted to Anderson's rental car, the pastor was wrong not to allow the agents to search his vehicle.Ben Vik, a supervisory Border Patrol agent for the Yuma sector, further told WND that the Supreme Court and federal law permit the Border Patrol to establish checkpoints up to 100 miles inside the U.S. and that with probable cause the Fourth Amendment doesn't apply to searches of automobiles."The Supreme Court found that only minimal intrusion existed to motorists at reasonably located checkpoints," said Vik."The Supreme Court found that the very brief detention of motorists at a well-marked and identified immigration checkpoint did not constitute an unreasonable search and seizure."Vik's statement, however, doesn't apply to typical law enforcement agencies, but-thanks to a controversial ruling-only to "immigration" checkpoints established by the Border Patrol.The courts have typically ruled against "suspicion-less" stops and searches of vehicles at police checkpoints, such as the one that detained Anderson.As recently as 2000, the Supreme Court ruled in Indianapolis vs. Edmond that police cannot establish roadblocks staffed by dogs to randomly search automobiles for drugs."We have never approved a checkpoint program whose primary purpose was to detect evidence of ordinary criminal wrongdoing," the Supreme Court majority wrote in Indianapolis vs. Edmond."The Indianapolis checkpoints violate the Fourth Amendment."The 1976 United States vs. Martinez-Fuerte decision, however, created an exception allowing the Border Patrol the unique power to establish checkpoints for seeking illegal immigrants, with the secondary purpose of finding drugs. So while Yuma-area police cannot operate a K-9, or drug-detecting dog, checkpoint without violating the Fourth Amendment, the Border Patrol can.
A second exception was also created for drunk driving checkpoints under 1990's Michigan Department of State Police vs. Sitz, but some – including Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas – do not believe the exceptions to the Fourth Amendment are warranted."I am not convinced that Sitz and Martinez-Fuerte were correctly decided," Thomas wrote in an opinion on the 2000 Indianapolis vs. Edmond decision. "Indeed, I rather doubt that the framers of the Fourth Amendment would have considered 'reasonable' a program of indiscriminate stops of individuals not suspected of wrongdoing."Graham Boyd, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Drug Law Reform Project in Santa Cruz, Calif., told the Phoenix New Times that an immigration checkpoint is "thin justification" for sniffing random cars for drugs without a warrant."Even if somebody has no sympathy for a marijuana user," Boyd says, "you should still be concerned that the U.S. government is saying the border is an area where the U.S. Constitution is suspended."Senior Patrol Agent Vik assured WND that even in the checkpoints, citizens do maintain certain rights limiting officers' actions."Border Patrol immigration checkpoints don't give Border Patrol agents carte blanche to automatically search persons or their vehicles," Vik explained. "To conduct a legal search under the Fourth Amendment, agents must develop an articulable probable cause to conduct a lawful search."In Anderson's case, the pastor claims the K-9 dog made no bark or indication that his rental car was tainted with drugs, while Vik insisted to WND that the dog did alert agents to drugs, thus granting probable cause for the search.Both Anderson and Vik confirm that no contraband was discovered on the vehicle. As for the Tasering and other alleged rough treatment by police, Vik told WND that Anderson was extracted from his car and arrested by Arizona Department of Public Safety officers, not the Border Patrol, a statement Anderson confirms in his video.The Arizona DPS told WND that an investigation into the officers' actions is ongoing and no comment can be made until it is complete.Anderson spent the evening of his arrest in jail and is awaiting a formal arraignment at which he intends to plead "not guilty."

By Drew Zahn

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=95300

As in the days of Noah...

Veterans a Focus of FBI Extremist Probe

WASHINGTON-The Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year launched a nationwide operation targeting white supremacists and "militia/sovereign-citizen extremist groups," including a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to memos sent from bureau headquarters to field offices.The initiative, dubbed Operation Vigilant Eagle, was outlined in February, two months before a memo giving a similar warning was issued on April 7 by the Department of Homeland Security.Disclosure of the DHS memo this week has sparked controversy among some conservatives and veterans groups. Appearing on television talk shows Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano defended the assessment, but apologized to veterans who saw it as an accusation."This is an assessment of things just to be wary of, not to infringe on constitutional rights, certainly not to malign our veterans," she said on NBC's Today Show.The documents outlining Operation Vigilant Eagle cite a surge in activity by such groups. The memos say the FBI's focus on veterans began as far back as December, during the final weeks of the Bush administration, when the bureau's domestic counterterrorism division formed a special joint working group with the Defense Department.A Feb. 23 draft memo from FBI domestic counterterrorism leaders, obtained by The Wall Street Journal, cited an "increase in recruitment,threatening communications and weapons procurement by white supremacy extremist and militia/sovereign -citizen extremist groups."The FBI said in the memo that its conclusion about a surge in such activities was based on confidential sources, undercover operations, reporting from other law-enforcement agencies and publicly available information. The memo said the main goal of the multipronged operation was to get a better handle on "the scope of this emerging threat." The operation also seeks to identify gaps in intelligence efforts surrounding these groups and their leaders.The aim of the FBI's effort with the Defense Department, which was rolled into the Vigilant Eagle program, is to "share information regarding Iraqi and Afghanistan war veterans whose involvement in white supremacy and/or militia sovereign citizen extremist groups poses a domestic terrorism threat," according to the Feb. 23 FBI memo.Michael Ward, FBI deputy assistant director for counterterrorism, said in an interview Thursday that the portion of the operation focusing on the military related only to veterans who draw the attention of Defense Department officials for joining white-supremacist or other extremist groups."We're not doing an investigation into the military, we're not looking at former military members," he said. "It would have to be something they were concerned about, or someone they're concerned is involved" with extremist groups.Mr. Ward said that the FBI's general counsel reviewed the operation before it began, "to make sure any tripwires we set do not violate any civil liberties."
By CAM SIMPSON and GARY FIELDS
To read more go to:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123992665198727459.html
PS:This is flat out SHAMEFUL...IF she had some self respect and respect for the country she should have already resigned....Typical example of BHO's pick for office....
As in the days of Noah...

BIG BROTHER WATCH: FBI and States Vastly Expanding Databases of DNA...

Law enforcement officials are vastly expanding their collection of DNA to include millions more people who have been arrested or detained but not yet convicted. The move, intended to help solve more crimes, is raising concerns about the privacy of petty offenders and people who are presumed innocent.Until now, the federal government genetically tracked only convicts. But starting this month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation will join 15 states that collect DNA samples from those awaiting trial and will collect DNA from detained immigrants-the vanguard of a growing class of genetic registrants.The F.B.I., with a DNA database of 6.7 million profiles, expects to accelerate its growth rate from 80,000 new entries a year to 1.2 million by 2012-a 17-fold increase. F.B.I. officials say they expect DNA processing backlogs-which now stand at more than 500,000 cases-to increase.Law enforcement officials say that expanding the DNA databanks to include legally innocent people will help solve more violent crimes. They point out that DNA has helped convict thousands of criminals and has exonerated more than 200 wrongfully convicted people.But criminal justice experts cite Fourth Amendment privacy concerns and worry that the nation is becoming a genetic surveillance society. “DNA databases were built initially to deal with violent sexual crimes and homicides-a very limited number of crimes,” said Harry Levine, a professor of sociology at City University of New York who studies policing trends.“Over time more and more crimes of decreasing severity have been added to the database. Cops and prosecutors like it because it gives everybody more information and creates a new suspect pool.”Courts have generally upheld laws authorizing compulsory collection of DNA from convicts and ex-convicts under supervised release, on the grounds that criminal acts diminish privacy rights.DNA extraction upon arrest potentially erodes that argument, a recent Congressional study found. “Courts have not fully considered legal implications of recent extensions of DNA-collection to people whom the government has arrested but not tried or convicted,” the report said.Minors are required to provide DNA samples in 35 states upon conviction, and in some states upon arrest.

PICTURE:Mary Eugenio collecting DNA from an inmate at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles.( Monica Almeida/The New York Times)

By Solomon Moore

To read more go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/us/19DNA.html?_r=1

As in the days of Noah...

Latin American leaders rail against the USA...

Latin American leaders railed against the U.S. during President Barack Obama’s first trip to the region, turning what was intended to mark a new direction in relations into a history lesson that chastised “Yankee troop” interventions and U.S.-dictated economic policies. Obama arrived at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday promising to “listen and learn” from regional leaders.He got an earful.In the weekend’s first speeches, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner voiced grievances on issues ranging from the U.S. drug war to American support for counterinsurgency movements of the 1980s. Both urged Obama to end the 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, the only country in the Americas excluded from the 34-nation summit.
“For many years, there have been traumatic relations,” Fernandez said.“I want you to know, Obama, that this is in no way a reproach against you. It’s simply an exercise to look back at what happened.”Obama is trying to revive U.S. influence in Latin America that waned under President George W. Bush as the war on terror diverted attention to the Middle East and the region expanded economic and diplomatic ties with U.S. rivals such as Russia and China...

By Helen Murphy and Joshua Goodman

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aun_fNO0161g

As in the days of Noah...

Obama Silent on Ortega Diatribe

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago-President Obama endured a 50-minute diatribe from socialist Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega that lashed out at a century of what he called terroristic U.S. aggression in Central America and included a rambling denunciation of the U.S.-imposed isolation of Cuba's Communist government.Obama sat mostly unmoved during the speech but at times jotted notes.The speech was part of the opening ceremonies at the fifth Summit of the Americas here.Later, at a photo opportunity with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Obama held his tongue when asked what he thought about Ortega's speech."It was 50 minutes long. That's what I thought."Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ignored two questions about Ortega's speech, instead offering lengthy praise of a cultural performance of dance and song opening the summit."I thought the cultural performance was fascinating," Clinton said. Asked again about the Ortega speech, Clinton said: "To have those first class Caribbean entertainers on all on one stage and to see how much was done in such a small amount of space, I was overwhelmed."A senior administration official declined to criticize Ortega, saying the president wanted to focus on the future."His expectation is that these debates of the past can remain that, debates of the past and that the leaders can take advantage of this opportunity to focus on what they can do in the future to advance the interests of all the people of the hemisphere."Ortega, meanwhile, droned on about the offenses of the past, dredging up U.S. support of the Somoza regime and the "illegal" war against the Sandinista regime he once led by U.S.-backed Contra rebels in the 1980s. Ortega was a member of the revolutionary junta that drove Anastasio Somoza from power in 1979 and was elected president in 1985. He was defeated in 1990 by Violeta Chamorro and ran unsuccessfully twice for the presidency before winning in 2006.Of the 19th and 20th centuries, Ortega said: "Nicaragua central America, we haven't been shaken since the past century by what have been the expansionist policies, war policies, that even led us in the 1850s, 1855, 1856 to bring Central American people together. We united, with Costa Ricans, with people from Honduras, the people from Guatemala, El Salvador. We all got together, united so we could defeat the expansionist policy of the United States. And after that, after interventions that extended since 1912, all the way up to 1932 and that left, as a result the imposition of that tyranny of the Samoas. Armed, funded, defended by the American leaders."
Ortega denounced the U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro's new Communist government in Cuba in 1961, a history of US racism and what he called suffocating U.S. economic policies in the region.In his 17-minute address to the summit, Obama departed from his prepared remarks to mildly rebuke Ortega.
By Major Garrett

To read more go to:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/18/obama-endures-ortega-diatribe/

As in the days of Noah...

US reporters face years in North Korean jail...

In a state “guest house” on the outskirts of Pyongyang, Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been held for more than a month: valuable pawns in an growing international nuclear stand-off.Hanging over the heads of the American journalists is the possibility of a show trial and ten years in a notoriously harsh North Korean prison camp. The outside world knows little about how they are holding up-because North Korea is not saying and the United States, while trying to free them through diplomacy, has tried to impose a blanket of silence.The signs, though, are not good for the employees of Current TV, a web-based television channel founded by Al Gore, the former US Vice-President, because their future appears bound up in the widening rift between Pyongyang and much of the rest of the world over its recent missile launch. The reclusive regime of Kim Jong Il has halted all talks and expelled international experts monitoring its nuclear activities after the United Nations condemned its decision to fire a rocket over Japan.Ms Ling, 32, a Chinese-American, has reported on drug wars in Mexico and native tribes in Brazil and is the younger sister of Lisa Ling, an award-winning TV journalist. Her father, Doug Ling, told reporters that he brought up his daughters as a single father and that both of them were sometimes “too adventurous” in covering news around the world. “I worry quite a bit. But I’m not losing any sleep over it,” he said. “Because I’m more or less used to it.”Euna Lee, a Korean-American videographer, joined Current TV in 2005 after attending the prestigious Academy of Art University in San Francisco. The pair were accompanied on their trip to the region by a cameraman and an executive producer, both of whom managed to avoid capture.The team, hoping to interview defectors from North Korea, began with a series of meetings in Seoul before flying to the Chinese city of Yanji, on the North Korean border.They were warned not to leave Chinese soil but ventured across the frozen Tumen river anyway.Exact details of their capture vary, with some accounts indicating that they were arrested by North Korean troops after refusing to stop filming, and others suggesting that they were pursued across the ice and back on to Chinese soil before being taken into custody.Either way, within 24 hours Ms Ling and Ms Lee were taken in separate vehicles to Pyongyang for questioning. A week later it was announced that they would be put on trial....

By Mike Harvey in San Francisco

To read more go to:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6115798.ece

As in the days of Noah...

FLASHBACK:Chavez in Iran '06:"The United States empire is on its way down and it will be finished in the near future,inshallah (Arabic: God willing)"

UNITED NATIONS-The United States will soon lose its place as leader of the world, and the United Nations is a broken organization that is beyond repair, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday.“The United States empire is on its way down and it will be finished in the near future, inshallah," Chavez told reporters, ending the statement with the Arabic phrase for "God willing."Chavez said that the United Nations is a “deceased” organization because it was formed to bridge the differences between the United States and Russia, and a brand new international organization would have to be formed to replace it.Earlier, Chavez initiated a verbal assault on President Bush, calling him "the devil" during an insult-riddled address to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly."The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, gesturing to where Bush had stood during his speech on Tuesday. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."He later said he was referring to President Bush when he spoke of the devil.Chavez held up a book by American leftist writer Noam Chomsky "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance" and recommended it to everyone in the General Assembly.He also lambasted the U.S. government for trying to block Venezuela's campaign for a rotating seat on the U.N. Security Council. He said if chosen over U.S.-favorite Guatemala in a secret-ballot U.N. vote next month, Venezuela would be "the voice of the Third World."

To read more go to:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214709,00.html

As in the days of Noah...

SHARIA'A LAW WATCH:Parliament approves Islamic law in Somalia

Somalia's parliament unanimously approved on Saturday a government proposal to introduce Islamic sharia law in the country, parliamentary deputy speaker Osman Elmi Bogore told AFP."There were 340 members at the session and they voted unanimously for the implementation of Islamic sharia in Somalia," said Bogore, who presided over the debates in the absence of speaker Aden Mohamed Nur."The bill...is approved by the Parliament...We have an Islamic government," he added. Somalia's cabinet last month endorsed the plan to introduce sharia, a key demand by hardline Islamists who are opposed to the government."Islamic sharia is the only option to get solutions for the problems in this country," Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamoud told reporters on March 10.On February 28 President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed agreed to proposals by local and foreign religious leaders for a truce with the hardliners and the implementation of sharia.Islamist Shebab militia have already imposed the law in areas of the war-torn country under their control.Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was elected president on January 31 following a United Nations-brokered reconciliation and vowed to form an inclusive government.But the Shebab and other militia have continued to battle the government and its allies.Clan fighting and rivalry have scuppered numerous attempts to restore stability in the country since it plunged into a civil war with the 1991 ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre.
AFP
http://www.theage.com.au/world/parliament-approves-islamic-law-in-somalia-20090418-aawb.html

As in the days of Noah...

Obama's Stance Worries Israelis

CAN Israel still call the United States its best international friend? Apparently not, if you believe the tone of the local media.Watching the drama unfold inside Israel, the increasingly tense dialogue between US President Barack Obama and new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking on all the trappings of a duel.Almost every day brings news of another sore point between the two countries, a source of yet further inflammation of their once warm relations.One could be forgiven for thinking that the more immediate threat to Israel's national security lay across the Atlantic rather than from closer to home.It is bad enough that President Obama uses almost every opportunity he can to set the parameters of a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Now US officials are openly using Israeli anxiety over Iran's fledging nuclear program as a bargaining chip to force Israel's hand on giving up control of the West Bank Palestinian territory. No less a figure than White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel-whose father fought with the militant Zionist group the Irgun, and whose appointment had provided such reassurance to Israeli officials-was quoted this week laying down the law to Israel.If Israel wants US help to defuse the Iranian threat, Mr Emanuel was reported to have told Jewish leaders in Washington, then get ready to start evacuating settlements in the West Bank.Talkback radio blazed with fury across the country the same day, as Israelis protested that no US official had the right to tell them where to live.Then on Thursday came the news that Mr Netanyahu's planned first meeting with President Obama in Washington next month had been called off.Mr Netanyahu had hoped to capitalise on his attendance at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington to visit the White House.But Administration officials informed Mr Netanyahu's office that the President would not be "in town".

By Jason Koutsoukis

To read more go to:

http://www.theage.com.au/world/obamas-stance-worries-israelis-20090417-aa90.html

As in the days of Noah...

'IAF readying swift strike on Iran'

The IAF is preparing for the possibility that it will need to attack Iran's nuclear facilities at several hours' notice, The London Times reported Saturday. According to an unnamed Israel security official quoted by the paper, "Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours.""They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality," the source said. "The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words."According to the paper, such an attack would involve strikes on over a dozen targets, including the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, the uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, the heavy water plant in Arak,as well as moving convoys. "We would not make the threat against Iran without the force to back it," one intelligence official told the Times."There has been a recent move, a number of on-the-ground preparations, that indicate Israel's willingness to act."Still, he added, an Israeli assault was unlikely without American approval, even if only implied.The report stated that the IDF has made several preparations, and is planning several more, in case an attack would be deemed inevitable.The recently reported strike on an Iranian arms convoy in Sudan was one such rehearsal, the paper claimed.The army's recent purchase of three new Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) was another.Meanwhile, the paper reported that a nationwide home front exercise planned to take place in the near future will help prepare Israel for the Iranian retaliation that would probably follow any Israeli attack on Iran.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1239710718819&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

As in the days of Noah...

"No one will dare attack Iranian nation..."

The London Times published a report claiming that Israel was preparing to attack targets in Iran within hours of receiving a green light from the government in Jerusalem. Speaking during a ceremony in Iran's Army Day, Ahmadinejad said Iran was one of the strongest countries in the region and that "the gall to threaten the Iranian nation was quashed forever.""The Iranian nation is ready to become more involved in maintaining order and security based on justice in many regions of the world," Ahmadinejad said.His speech on Saturday was much more toned down than Army Day speeches from previous years; in 2006 Ahmadinejad warned that Iran's army will "cut off the hand of whoever dares attack it." In 2007 he said "the resistance of the Iranian people will bring down world powers."The parade of military equipment on Saturday was also more modest than in previous years.While announcements prior to the parade said 140 jets will fly in formation, only several dozen helicopters dotted the skies of Iran on Saturday.An official explained that weather conditions prevented the jet air maneuvers from taking place.Shihab and Khader missiles, which are usually driven atop their launching vehicles in the streets of Teheran, were also missing.But Zilzal missiles, armored personnel carriers, unmanned aircraft and even small submarines surrounded by marching soldiers in diving masks. The forces passed before a stage where Ahmadinejad and top brass were sitting.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1239710719757&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

As in the days of Noah...

Lawyer: Iran Convicts U.S. Journalist of Spying

An American journalist jailed in Iran has been convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison, her lawyer said Saturday, dashing any hopes for her quick release...

PS:One thing is for sure...BHO and Clinton won't do a thing to help in the matter,cause they just plainly don't care,even though Hellary puts a stern face and blabs an empty statement...
As in the days of Noah....

At Summit, Obama Gets Friendly With Chavez

A SMILE AND A SHAKE FOR CHAVEZ:Obama extends hands to Chavez,Ortega at summit

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad-President Barack Obama offered a spirit of cooperation to America's hemispheric neighbors at a summit Saturday, listening to complaints about past U.S. meddling and even reaching out to Venezuela's leftist leader.While he worked to ease friction between the U.S. and their countries, Obama cautioned leaders at the Summit of the Americas to resist a temptation to blame all their problems on their behemoth neighbor to the north."I have a lot to learn and I very much look forward to listening and figuring out how we can work together more effectively," Obama said.Obama said he was ready to accept Cuban President Raul Castro's proposal of talks on issues once off-limits for Cuba, including political prisoners held by the communist government.While praising America's initial effort to thaw relations with Havana, the leaders pushed the U.S. to go further and lift the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.To Latin American nations reeling from a sudden plunge in exports, Obama promised a new hemispheric growth fund, an initiative to increase Caribbean security and a partnership to develop alternative energy sources and fight global warming.As the first full day of meetings began on the two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, Obama exchanged handshakes and pats on the back with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who once likened President George W. Bush to the devil.In front of photographers, Chavez gave Obama a copy of "The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent," a book by Eduardo Galeano that chronicles U.S. and European economic and political interference in the region.When a reporter asked Obama what he thought of the book, the president replied: "I thought it was one of Chavez's books. I was going to give him one of mine." White House advisers said they didn't know if Obama would read it or not.Later, during a group photo, Obama reached behind several leaders at the summit to shake Chavez' hand for the third time. Obama summoned a translator and the two smiled and spoke briefly.Those two exchanges followed a brief grip-and-grin for cameras on Friday night when Obama greeted Chavez in Spanish."I think it was a good moment," Chavez said about their initial encounter."I think President Obama is an intelligent man, compared to the previous U.S. president."At a luncheon speech to fellow leaders, Chavez said the spirit of respect is encouraging and he proposed that Havana host the next summit."I'm not going to speak for Cuba. It's not up to me... (but) all of us here are friends of Cuba, and we hope the United States will be, too," Chavez said.The White House said Chavez was civil in his criticism of the U.S. during a summit meeting, but that there was no discussion of reinstating ambassadors who were kicked out of each other's countries last year. "Relationships depend on more than smiles and handshakes," Obama economic adviser Larry Summers told reporters later.Bolivia President Evo Morales, a close ally of Chavez, said Obama's pledge of a new era of mutual respect toward Latin America rings hollow."Obama said three things: There are neither senior or junior partners. He said relations should be of mutual respect, and he spoke of change," Morales said. "In Bolivia ... one doesn't feel any change. The policy of conspiracy continues."Morales expelled U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg in September and kicked out the Drug Enforcement Administration the next month for allegedly conspiring with the political opposition to incite violence. Chavez expelled the U.S. ambassador in Venezuela in solidarity. The Bush administration subsequently suspended trade preferences to Bolivia that Bolivian business leaders say could cost 20,000 jobs.Obama also extended a hand to Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, whom President Ronald Reagan spent years trying to drive from power. Ortega was ousted in 1990 elections that ended Nicaragua's civil war, but was returned to power by voters in 2006.
Ortega stepped up and introduced himself to Obama, U.S. officials said. But a short time later, Ortega delivered a blistering 50-minute speech that denounced capitalism and U.S. imperialism as the root of much hemispheric mischief. The address even recalled the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, though Ortega said the new U.S. president could not be held to account for that."I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old," Obama said, to laughter and applause from the other leaders.
Associated Press writers Frank Bajak and Vivian Sequera contributed to this report.

By MARK S. SMITH

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090418/D97L43IO0.html

As in the days of Noah...

Obama “Unaware” Of The Tea Parties

Dozens of tea parties have already been held nationally attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees.Some 2,600 events in 800 cities nationally are holding events.Countless editorials and news reports have been published about them.But apparently Obama hasn’t heard of these “tea party” thingies.

I think this indicates just how scared the liberals are right now.When they’re not busy looking down their noses at the tea party rallies, they’ve got their fingers in their ears pretending like its not happening.
By Rob
http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/obama_unaware_of_the_tea_parties/
As in the days of Noah...

LIBERAL MEDIA BIAS:How CNN's Susan Roengen covered Left-wing rally and how she was openly hostile to Chicago Tea Party goers...

It is not secret that most of the media in our country is widely biased and liberal.
CNN is not the exception...It seems most of them are in the tank with Obama,still living the love affair and having "tingling feelings running up and down their legs" and looking at BHO as the Second Coming...
This is sad and sickening at the same time,but a sign of the times we are living in,where deception is rampant everywhere and where people looking for the truth have a hard time to get to it,IF they look into the mainstream media.
I never even thought for a minute to become a blogger...But I think the Lord put that idea in me,so I could help those on the web looking for real news and the news behind the news and the TRUTH behind the news--and dont have time to scan the media and the web for it.
So far it has been an awesome journey,where I have made quite a few friends and I found out that there are literally millions now asking the right questions about many things and are looking for answers.
I've always searched for the truth,even since I was little and at age 9 I knew in my heart I was a sinner and wanted to find a way to heaven.
My parents always encouraged me to look for the TRUTH in all things.I also had awesome history teachers,during high school that encouraged me to search and research and don't settle till I could find that truth that I was looking for.
I finally found Jesus and since then the yearning for the Truth in all things has increased exponentially.
At an hour and time that we are living in--the last hour--according to the Bible,it was also prophecied that men would love a lie and will have itching ears to hear...We are witnessing to that.
I'm founding out also,that the same message can be put out out there and two people may hear it different...It is all coming to those that love the Truth and those that will vehemently reject it--almost from their system...
When I watched the videos about the Tea Parties going on all across the US(more than 800,last time I checked)and this wacked out reporter acting like if she was being mugged and bullied and pushed around,I couldn't take it.
Do we--and when I say we,I include all those of us that feel the same way about what is going on in our country,since BHO was crowned...doesnt matter what party affiliation you are or your colour or skin,etc--so..do we live in the same world these media people live...?Do we even live in the same world Nancy Pelosi lives at...?
Sometimes I think she lives in an alternate reality,or that a big black hole opened up in Washingotn DC and members of Congress get in and out at will...
All I know is that thank God the TRUTH is out there,for those searching for it.And may be the greatest journalists of our day will be those that will never be on Tv or big media outlets....just because they love the TRUTH and they love this country too much,to sit still and do nothing.
I wrote all this to kinda vent what is in my mind...And kinda explain why I'm posting the two videos that follow.
Rob in http://sayanythingblog.com/ says--referring to the incident with Roesgen at the Chicago Tea Party:
"Its little wonder CNN is hemorrhaging viewers.
Oh, and by the way, when CNN and Roesgen was covering an anti-Bush rally in 2006 she wasn’t nearly as concerned about the protesters comparing Bush to Hitler as she was about the tea party folks comparing Obama to Hitler."

You can read the rest of his post at:http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/the_susan_roesgen_tea_party_report_what_cnn_didnt_show_you/
Susan Roesgen's bias is tangible in the following video.Her double standards are in the open.This is how she covers a left-wing rally....:

And here’s how left-wing protesters treat a Fox News reporter...:

I know if we earnestly want to find the news in the web,there are still some outlets where to go and read what is actually going on...For the most part is just a mirage.No wonder many newspapers have shut down and TV channels have been struggling with ratings,in the last couple of months.

I hope they get it.

We the people, are fed up of lies and simply want the TRUTH.

Now can I say like Apostle Paul did to the Galatians..:

"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"

(Galatians 4:16)

Roesgen--like many others in the media--look down on anybody that doesn't agree with their views.And if you are a born again christian...then you instantly become a "nut job" and a "THREAT to SOCIETY"

What this woman did at the Tea Party was speak out of the abundance of her heart.She couldn't be but hostile and hateful and in the end she got a little bit out of control and flat out lied.

People like her in the media really need our prayers...otherwise I don't know how they ever are gonna be able to see TRUTH.

In the meantime we have to keep posting what really is happenning and not what CNN or MSNBC or whatever outlet just try to portray to deceive people.

As in the days of Noah...

CHICAGO TEA PARTY:Founding Bloggers Exclusive! Our Footage Of The CNN Chicago Tea Party Throwdown(UPDATE)

UPDATE: Obviously we hit a nerve with CNN because they forced YouTube to pull the video down, along with all of the comments people posted. Some other YouTuber (who we do not know and are not affiliated with) grabbed the clip before YouTube yanked it. That clip is embedded below.At today’s Tea Party protest in Chicago, CNN’s Susan Roesgen found herself in some hot water with an angry crowd when she became belligerent with a protester.CNN shut the segment down quickly, with a few editorial insults toward the Tea Partiers thrown in for good measure.
“I think you get the general tenor of this. It’s anti-government, anti-CNN since this is highly promoted by the right-wing conservative network Fox.”
Founding Bloggers was on the scene, and we have footage of the schooling Susan Roesgen received from angry attendees after she signed off.

Michelle Malkin has more.
http://www.foundingbloggers.com/wordpress/
PS:Awesome job by the people at founding bloggers....!!!!And thumbs up for the lady that took Susan Roesgen to task....!
As in the days of Noah...

Chicago Tea Party that Susan Roesgen Missed

This is a 20 minute video from the Chicago Tea Party Protest...

The Susan Roesgen Tea Party:"CNN Reporter Openly Hostile To Tea Party Protesters"...

Come for the sanctimonious, arrogant dismissal of the protesters and stay for her grilling some guy who, along with his progeny, will be paying off Obama’s 100 day spending spree long after she’s gone to the old journalists retirement home.

The title of the video at YouTube is “CNN Reporter Harassed at Chicago Tea Party.” Of course, given her attitude, the “harassment” she got (which amounted to the protesters shouting at her to quit cutting people off and let them answer) seemed appropriate.
In fact, one gets the feeling that she was really just there to provoke the protesters into saying something stupid for the camera, given the way she was acting.
by Rob
http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/cnn_reporter_openly_hostile_to_tea_party_protesters/
PS:CNN has turned into the communist news network...No wonder their numbers are constantly plummeting.People--regular people--like the man holding the baby or us here home,are FED UP with all this media bias...These people at CNN are so mentally deluged that they couldn't even identify TRUTH if it was standing in front of them with a big sign...that she was"harrassed"...?and that this was not "family viewing"...???Since when you people at CNN CARE ANYTHING about FAMILY....?Typical example of calling evil good and good evil...Thank God Susan Roesgen is NOT the rest of America...
As in the days of Noah...

Journalism School Has Journalist Arrested For Engaging In Journalism Outside Of Journalism Event

USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism will brook no unauthorized journalism.

Link:

What’s sad is that this will probably inspire little or no outrage among journalists.Because Ziegler isn’t the right kind of journalist.
By Rob
http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/journalism_school_has_journalist_arrested_for_engaging_in_journalism_outsid/
As in the days of Noah...

Watching The Left’s Reaction To The Tea Parties Is Like Watching Spoiled Kids Throw A Tantrum

Let’s start this off with a question: Do these people (the left and their media bullies) ever take a clear look at themselves or give an honest listen to what they’re saying?The answer to that, based on their reaction to the nationwide tea parties thrown around the country on April 15th, would have to be a resounding,“NO!”And while saying that it has to be “no”I’m reserving some Pollyannaish hope that they’ll one day look around and hear and see how they’re acting and hopefully realize that they’re making absolute blubbering, foul mouthed, temper tantrum thowing fools of themselves.Oh, I’m not worried that they’re stepping all over their very own dignity like drunken grape stompers in some fifth rate winery by acting like a four year old who isn’t getting his way. I really could not possibly care less about that. They should know better. That’s not why I’m wishing at least some of them would come to their senses. I’m worried because this country seems to be in the hands of self centered, screaming, heel kicking, purple-faced-with-rage children with Ivy League degrees or the bully pulpits of various media outlets. And that, folks, will lead to nothing but more and more contempt and hostlity for them from the adults in the room. That would be you and me.The main stream media,like the above mentioned spoiled brats they are, either ignored the tea parties across America or waited until they actually happened to cover them, and then that was with a sneering condecension that has nothing to do with journalism. It wasn’t journalism. It was pure partisanship. The net today is full of examples of their somewhat less than objective coverage.Another point:There were hundreds of thousands of people gathered in hundreds of cities across America on April 15th, ordinary people. That’s sort of a front page news item, wouldn’t you think? But papers across the country buried it somewhere inside, and news websites, if they covered it at all, had it as small link somewhere down the page and not in the headlines. Had there been an anti-Bush rally with more than four people in it it would have been headline news everywhere. An over statement? Maybe.Just like their compadres on the left howling and kicking their heels and throwing their tantrums, many of the main stream media outlets stuck their fingers in their ears and said, “la-la-la-la-la I can’t hear you.” when it came to coverage of the gathering tea party storm. At the very, very best, childish behaviour from a once vaunted institution, the American media. At worst, a sign of bad things to come.
By Pilgrim

To read more go to:

http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/watching_the_lefts_reaction_the_tea_parties_is_like_watching_spoiled_kids_t/

As in the days of Noah...

Global Warming Strikes Again: Up To 36 Inches Of Snow In Colorado

Sigh.
That global warming anyway.Looks like it’s causing some serious winter snowfall in Denver. On…..April 17:
9NEWS Meteorologist Ashton Altieri says rain in the metro area will continue to change into snow through the morning on Friday. Many areas above 6,000 feet had already reported snow and up to 10 inches of accumulation before sunrise on Friday.
A WINTER STORM WARNING has been posted through Saturday morning for almost the entire Interstate 25 corridor as well as most mountain areas in Colorado. Most of southern Wyoming, including the Interstate 80 corridor, is also under a warning through Saturday at noon.
Parts of Colorado could see as much as 36 inches. Oh, and Wyoming is under a winter storm warning as well. When, oh when, will we heed the dire predictions of a sweaty doom from Al Gore and groupies?
Oh, by the way…...Las Vegas is looking at some late snow as well:
A chill moved across Las Vegas late Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing lower temperatures and strong winds to the valley.
Five inches of snow fell Tuesday night on Mount Charleston, and trace amounts of rain were recorded at McCarran International Airport.The National Weather Service said Wednesday’s high was 59 degrees, which fell short of the record low high of 56 degrees set in 1998.
“This is definitely not your typical April day,” said Barry Pierce, weather service meteorologist.
Calling Al Gore! Calling Al Gore! Al? Al? You there Al?

By Pilgrim

http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/global_warming_strikes_again_up_to_36_inches_of_snow_in_colorado/

As in the days of Noah...

While Obama Shakes His Hand, Chavez’s Buddies In Iran Jail American Journalist

While Obama continues his international apologize-for-America tour, and cozies up to cruel dictators like Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan dictator’s brothers-in-arms in Iran have jailed an American journalist for eight years for “spying.”
TEHRAN Iran has sentenced an Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi, to eight years in prison after convicting her of spying for the United States, her lawyer said Saturday.
But don’t worry folks. The Obama administration has already sprung to arms and is “vigorously” raising “concerns:”
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she was “deeply disappointed” by what the State Department has called baseless charges against Ms. Saberi, and demanded her release.“We will continue to vigorously raise our concerns to the Iranian government,” Mrs. Clinton said in a statement released Saturday.
Well then. I’m sure the Iranians will be reversing the wrongful arrest and imprisonment of Ms. Saberi any moment now under a barrage of vigorously raised concerns.
By Rob

http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/while_obama_shakes_his_hand_chavezs_buddies_in_iran_jail_american_journalis/

As in the days of Noah...

NATO Rescues 20 Fishermen From Pirates, Belgian Ship Seized

NAIROBI,Kenya-NATO forces rescued 20 fishermen from pirates who launched the latest attack in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, but let the Somali hijackers go because they had no authority to arrest them.The release underscored the difficulties of stopping the skyrocketing piracy scourge in the Horn of Africa, where sea bandits also seized a Belgian-flagged ship carrying 10 foreign crew near the Seychelles islands and started hauling it toward Somalia. "There isn't a silver bullet" to solve the problem, said Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House. He said it's common for patrolling warships to disarm then free brigands because they have rarely have jurisdiction to try them.Pirate attacks have increased in recent weeks, with fishermen-turned-gunmen from Somalia searching for targets further out to sea as ships try to avoid the anarchic, clan-ruled nation.Pirates have attacked more than 80 boats this year alone, nearly four times the number assaulted in 2003, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau. They now hold at least 18 ships and over 310 crew hostage, according to an Associated Press count.The first attack Saturday occurred in the pre-dawn darkness, when pirates hijacked the Belgian-flagged Pompei a few hundred miles north of the Seychelles, said Portuguese Lt. Cmdr. Alexandre Santos Fernandes, who is traveling with a NATO fleet patrolling further north in the Gulf of Aden.Belgium officials said the ship sounded three alarms indicating it was under attack as it headed toward the palm-fringed islands, a high-end tourist destination, with a cargo of concrete and stones. The dredging ship had 10 crew: two Belgians, one Dutch, three Filipinos and four Croatians, Fernandes said.As pirates steered the ship slowly northwest toward Somalia, 430 miles away, a Spanish military ship, a French frigate and a French scout ship all steamed toward the area to try to intercept it.In Brussels, government officials held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation and possible intervention."There is no contact with the pirates, not with the crew, not with any other parties," Jaak Raes, director general of the Belgian Crisis Center, told reporters. "We are sure that the ship now is heading to the coast of Somalia."In a second attack later Saturday, pirates on a small white skiff fired small arms and rockets at a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker. Fernandes said the ship, the Handytankers Magic, issued a distress call shortly after dawn but escaped the pirates using "speed and maneuvers."The attack occurred in the Gulf of Aden, a vital short cut between Europe and Asia and one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.A Dutch frigate from the NATO force responded immediately to the distress call and trailed the pirates to a Yemeni-flagged fishing dhow the brigands had seized Thursday, Fernandes said.The bandits were using the Yemeni vessel as a "mother ship," a larger vessel that allows the pirates' tiny motorboats to hitch rides hundreds of kilometers [miles] off Somali coast, greatly expanding their range.The pirates climbed into the dhow and Dutch marine commandos followed soon after, freeing 20 fishermen whose nationalities were not known. Fernandes said there was no exchange of fire and Dutch forces seized seven automatic weapons and one rocket-propelled grenade launcher.Seven Somali pirates were briefly detained, but they were soon released because "NATO does not have any detainment policy," Fernandes said. Another reason the pirates could not be arrested: they were seized by Dutch nationals and the pirates, the victims and the ship were not Dutch, he said.Middleton, the U.K.-based piracy expert, said NATO sees its "main role as deterring and disrupting pirate activity"-not prosecuting brigands.

PICTURE:The Belgian ship the Pompei, shown in a file photo, is reportedly seized by pirates off the East African coast.(AP)

To read more go to:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517042,00.html

As in the days of Noah...

White House 'Disappointed' by Iran's Prison Sentence for American Journalist

TEHRAN,Iran-Iran convicted an American journalist of spying for the United States and sentenced her to eight years in prison, her lawyer said Saturday, complicating the Obama administration's efforts to improve relations with Tehran.The White House said President Barack Obama was "deeply disappointed"(1) by the conviction, while the journalist's father told a radio station his daughter was tricked into making incriminating statements by officials who told her they would free her if she did.It was the first time Iran has found an American journalist guilty of spying, and it is unclear how it will affect Obama's push to break a 30-year-old diplomatic deadlock between the two adversaries.Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But earlier this month, an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation, charging her with spying for the United States.The Fargo, North Dakota native had been living in Iran for six years and had worked as a freelance reporter for several news organizations including National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corp.The journalist's Iranian-born father, Reza Saberi, told NPR that his daughter was convicted Wednesday, two days after she appeared before an Iranian court in an unusually swift one-day closed-door trial. The court waited until Saturday to announce its decision to the lawyers, he said.Saberi's father is in Iran but was not allowed into the courtroom to see his daughter, who he described as "quite depressed." He said she denied the incriminating statements she made when she realized she had been tricked but "apparently in the case they didn't consider her denial."Saberi's lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, told The Associated Press he would "definitely appeal the verdict."North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan criticized the conviction as "a shocking miscarriage of justice" and called on the Iranian government to "show compassion" and release Saberi.U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States was working with Swiss diplomats in Iran to get details about the court's decision and to ensure Saberi's well-being. She said in a statement the United States will "vigorously raise our concerns" with the Iranian government.(2) The United States has called the charges against Saberi baseless, and the conviction and prison sentence could put strains on efforts to improve ties.Obama has said he wants to engage Iran in talks on its nuclear program and other issues — a departure from the tough talk of the Bush administration.
To read more go to:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517041,00.html
PS:(1)So BHO is "dissapointed"...?What a joke...Between him and "jewel"Hellary that said that(2)"will vigorously raise our concerns with the iranian government"once more have proved their true colours to be...They lie to their teeth acting like they really care about people and situations...It's just a posture...nothing else...TRUTH is the iranian REGIME keeps doing what knows best:oppressing,arresting,torturing,hanging,killling,beating up people...
As in the days of Noah...

Israel stands ready to bomb Iran's nuclear sites

The Israeli military is preparing itself to launch a massive aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government.Among the steps taken to ready Israeli forces for what would be a risky raid requiring pinpoint aerial strikes are the acquisition of three Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC) aircraft and regional missions to simulate the attack.Two nationwide civil defence drills will help to prepare the public for the retaliation that Israel could face.“Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours. They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words,” one senior defence official told The Times.Officials believe that Israel could be required to hit more than a dozen targets, including moving convoys. The sites include Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges produce enriched uranium; Esfahan, where 250 tonnes of gas is stored in tunnels; and Arak, where a heavy water reactor produces plutonium.The distance from Israel to at least one of the sites is more than 870 miles, a distance that the Israeli force practised covering in a training exercise last year that involved F15 and F16 jets, helicopters and refuelling tankers.The possible Israeli strike on Iran has drawn comparisons to its attack on the Osirak nuclear facility near Baghdad in 1981. That strike, which destroyed the facility in under 100 seconds, was completed without Israeli losses and checked Iraqi ambitions for a nuclear weapons programme.“We would not make the threat [against Iran] without the force to back it. There has been a recent move, a number of on-the-ground preparations, that indicate Israel's willingness to act,” said another official from Israel's intelligence community.He added that it was unlikely that Israel would carry out the attack without receiving at least tacit approval from America, which has struck a more reconciliatory tone in dealing with Iran under its new administration.An Israeli attack on Iran would entail flying over Jordanian and Iraqi airspace, where US forces have a strong presence.Ephraim Kam, the deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies, said it was unlikely that the Americans would approve an attack.“The American defence establishment is unsure that the operation will be successful. And the results of the operation would only delay Iran's programme by two to four years,” he said.A visit by President Obama to Israel in June is expected to coincide with the national elections in Iran-timing that would allow the US Administration to re-evaluate diplomatic resolutions with Iran before hearing the Israeli position.“Many of the leaks or statements made by Israeli leaders and military commanders are meant for deterrence. The message is that if [the international community] is unable to solve the problem they need to take into account that we will solve it our way,” Mr Kam said.Among recent preparations by the airforce was the Israeli attack of a weapons convoy in Sudan bound for militants in the Gaza Strip.“Sudan was practice for the Israeli forces on a long-range attack,” Ronen Bergman, the author of The Secret War with Iran, said. “They wanted to see how they handled the transfer of information, hitting a moving target...In that sense it was a rehearsal.”Israel has made public its intention to hold the largest-ever nationwide drill next month.Colonel Hilik Sofer told Haaretz, a daily Israeli newspaper, that the drill would “train for a reality in which during war missiles can fall on any part of the country without warning...We want the citizens to understand that war can happen tomorrow morning”. Israel will conduct an exercise with US forces to test the ability of Arrow, its US-funded missile defence system. The exercise would test whether the system could intercept missiles launched at Israel.“Israel has made it clear that it will not tolerate the threat of a nuclear Iran. According to Israeli Intelligence they will have the bomb within two years...Once they have a bomb it will be too late, and Israel will have no choice to strike-with or without America,” an official from the Israeli Defence Ministry said.

By Sheera Frenkel in Jerusalem

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6115903.ece

As in the days of Noah...

Obama will 'quickly' give Palestinians state:Arab official says U.S. relayed message ahead of meeting with Abbas

TEL AVIV,Israel-President Obama will move to create a Palestinian state "more quickly than anybody could imagine."At least that's the message the Palestinian Authority claims it received from the U.S.A chief PA negotiator, speaking to WND from the West Bank city of Ramallah, said that in recent days Palestinian officials held preliminary meetings leading to an in-person confab today between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and George Mitchell, Obama's envoy to the Mideast.The PA negotiator said the American team preparing for Mitchell's meeting with Abbas conveyed to the Palestinians that Obama seeks to move swiftly toward a Palestinian state.Said the PA negotiator:"They (the U.S. team) told us, 'We don't mind who is the government in Israel. Things will be closed (for a Palestinian state) and more quickly than anybody could imagine."Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting with Obama's envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, to outline the prime minister's approach to Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Netanyahu reportedly told Mitchell he would condition future talks with the Palestinians on Palestinian leaders' first recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, a step that would be difficult should Hamas join a unity government.The Israeli Ynetnews website quoted Netanyahu telling Mitchell of fears that any Israeli withdrawal from strategic territory would leave a terrorist hornet's nest in its wake."Israel must make sure that the political process does not result in the creation of a second 'Hamastan' (in the West Bank) that would threaten Jerusalem and the coastline," Netanyahu reportedly said.Regarding Syria, Netanyahu told Mitchell he is willing to approach talks with Damascus if the country would curb its alliance with Iran and backing of Palestinian terrorism, according to a source in the Netanyahu government speaking to WND.The source said Mitchell conveyed to Netanyahu that Obama seeks to create a Palestinian state in hopes of normalizing relations between Israel and the Arab world in line with the "Arab Peace Initiative." The source told WND Mitchell relayed that Obama's Mideast strategy would be based on the concept of the "Initiative" but with security guarantees for Israel.Following scores of denials he would trumpet the plan, Obama in January hailed the Arab initiative, which offers normalization of ties with the Jewish state in exchange for extreme Israeli concessions.In an interview with an Arab television network-his first formal interview as president-Obama stated:"Well, here's what I think is important. Look at the proposal that was put forth by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia...I might not agree with every aspect of the proposal, but it took great courage to put forward something that is as significant as that. I think that there are ideas across the region of how we might pursue peace. I do think that it is impossible for us to think only in terms of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and not think in terms of what's happening with Syria or Iran or Lebanon or Afghanistan and Pakistan."The Arab Initiative, originally proposed by King Abdullah in 2002 and later adopted by the Arab League, states that Israel would receive "normal relations" with the Arab world in exchange for a full withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem, which includes the Temple Mount.The West Bank contains important Jewish biblical sites and borders central Israeli population centers, while the Golan Heights looks down on Israeli civilian zones and was twice used by Syria to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state.The Arab plan also demands the imposition of a non-binding U.N. resolution that calls for so-called Palestinian refugees who wish to move inside Israel to be permitted to do so at the "earliest practicable date."Palestinians have long demanded the "right of return" for millions of "refugees," a formula Israeli officials across the political spectrum warn is code for Israel's destruction by flooding the Jewish state with millions of Arabs, thereby changing its demographics.When Arab countries attacked the Jewish state after its creation in 1948, some 725,000 Arabs living within Israel's borders fled or were expelled from the area that became Israel. Also at that time, about 820,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries or fled following rampant persecution.While most Jewish refugees were absorbed by Israel and other countries, the majority of Palestinian Arabs have been maintained in 59 U.N.-run camps that do not seek to settle the Arabs elsewhere.There are currently about 4 million Arabs who claim Palestinian refugee status with the U.N., including children and grandchildren of the original fleeing Arabs, Arabs living full-time in Jordan, and Arabs who long ago emigrated throughout the Middle East and to the West.

By Aaron Klein

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=95231

As in the days of Noah...

Experts Say Pakistan Is on Trajectory to Failure

Washington-Pakistan is on a rapid trajectory to failure as a democratic and stable state, and needs a boost of $4 billion in aid and loans each year to begin turning around, a private foreign affairs group has concluded."Time is running out," said the Atlantic Council, which called for more training and deploying another 15,000 police within six months to bring law and order to the country. "Given the tools and the financing, Pakistan can turn back from the brink," the report said."But for that to happen it needs help now." The Pakistan government has six to 12 months to implement economic and security policies "or face the very real prospect of considerable domestic and political turbulence," the report said. The United States has given Pakistan about $12.3 billion in military and economic aid. But the Government Accountability Office says the United States lacks a coordinated strategy in disbursing the aid and warns that al-Qaida continues to operate freely in Pakistan's unpoliced tribal areas. Vice President Joseph Biden, D-Del., the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind, the panel's senior Republican, proposed last summer authorizing $7.5 billion over five years in nonmilitary aid for Pakistan. Similar legislation sponsored by the new committee chairman, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Lugar is expected this year. Kerry and former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., are the Atlantic Council's honorary chairmen. Hagel, having left the Senate, is now council chairman. The Obama administration, meanwhile, has begun a policy review this week with senior officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan....

AP reporter Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

By Barry Schweid, Associated Press

To read more go to:

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/Content/Article.aspx?rsrcid=44110

As in the days of Noah...

John Kerry Plans Legislation to Give $15 Billion in Aid to Pakistan

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, plans to introduce legislation as early as next week that would give Pakistan $15 billion in non-military aid over the next 10 years, according to committee staff. The bill’s genesis is legislation proposed by then-committee Chairman and now-Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) in the 110th Congress. The Biden-Lugar bill proposed giving Pakistan $7.5 billion over five years ($1.5 billion a year) and an additional $7.5 billion over the following five years. Although the details of the Kerry-Lugar bill are still being drafted, committee staff told CNSNews.com that it will closely resemble the Biden-Lugar legislation, which cited anti-American sentiment among the Pakistani people as an obstacle to routing al Qaeda and Taliban militants from the country’s tribal region. “A critical mass of Pakistanis regard America as a greater threat than Al Qaeda,” the draft of the Biden-Lugar bill states. “Without changing this baseline, there is little likelihood of drying up popular tolerance for anti-U.S. terrorist groups, or persuading any Pakistani regime to devote the political capital necessary to deny such groups sanctuary and covert material support.” The Biden-Lugar bill said the non-military aid would build a relationship with the Pakistani people by providing money to improve the “secular” education system, build clinics, drill wells and reform the Pakistani police. The bill also asked for congressional oversight of the distribution of the non-military aid to ensure the money is used for its intended purpose. When asked by CNSNews.com if the Kerry-Lugar bill will include the same military conditions or benchmarks that call for the U.S. State Department to certify that the Pakistani security forces are fighting to stop al Qaeda and the Taliban from operating in Pakistan, Frederick Jones, the Senate committee’s communications director, said details of the bill are still being worked out but that Kerry was committed to non-military aid. “There will be benchmarks attached in terms of distribution of the non-military aid,” Jones said. “But the parameters of those benchmarks are still being discussed.” Last year, the Biden-Lugar version of the bill was opposed by several Republicans, including Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) who objected because – as Congressional Quarterly reported – he was convinced that “much of the aid the United States already sends to Pakistan is wasted, noting that the Government Accountability Office found that the oversight of Pakistan military aid is a bit sloppy.” “We need to determine if the money we are already spending is making a difference before we spend more money we don’t have,” Coburn spokesman John Hart told CQ. “If we’re not careful, we may end up spending taxpayer dollars to bail out warlords rather than building civil society.” The State Department’s 2008 Human Rights Report on Pakistan details ongoing human rights abuses in the country, including the “targeted killings of political dissidents” and the deaths of dozens of civilians at the hands of police. The report sites more than 1,000 cases of torture by police between January and June 2008, including beatings with batons and whips, electric shock, hanging upside down and the forced spreading of legs with bar fetters. It also reports that honor killings and mutilation of women occurred “throughout the country” during the year and that although slavery is against the law in Pakistan, approximately 2 million people were victims of “bonded labor.” In a statement following a meeting in February between U.S. officials and foreign ministers, the military, and intelligence leaders from Pakistan and Afghanistan, President Asif Ali Zadari said Pakistan is “steadfast against terror.” “We have not and will not negotiate with extremist Taliban and terrorists,” Zadari said. “The clerics with whom we have engaged are not Taliban. Indeed, in our dialogue we’d made it clear that it is their responsibility to rein in and neutralize Taliban and other insurgents.”

By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=46599

As in the days of Noah...